India’s donkeys are being rampantly smuggled to China for their skin which is allegedly being used for preparing Ejiao, a traditional Chinese medicine, to treat varied kind of ailments such as bleeding, dizziness, insomnia and dry cough, a detailed investigative report by the Brooke India, the India chapter of the United Kingdom-based international equine charity Brooke has claimed here.
Ejiao is donkey hide gelatin or ass-hide glue obtained from the skin of a donkey by soaking and stewing.
It claimed that China-motivated clandestine Donkey Hide Trade (DHT) is the reason for a drastic decrease in the donkey population across the States in India. Data speaks: From the 2012 Livestock Census until the latest Livestock Census of 2019, the donkey population has decreased by sharpest ie 61.23 per cent. Figurewise, the country’s donkey population shrunk to 0.12 million in 2019 from 0.32 million in 2012, as per the Census 2019. In 2007, there were 0.44 million donkeys in India.
The Brooke India has now submitted the investigative study “The Hidden Hide” conducted by senior journalist Sharat K Verma to the Commissioner, Union Animal Husbandry Dairying Department for needful action in the matter.
China is directly and indirectly to blame for the fall in the donkey population not only in India but across the globe as donkey hide (skin) is used for manufacturing Ejiao. It is also a health fad, believed to prolong life, increase sex drive and maintain beauty, and has seen an explosion in demand for China's rising middle class, said Verma while sharing the details of the report.
Alarmed at the drastic decrease in the donkey population in India, Brooke India (BI) had planned to conduct an investigative undercover study. Over a decade, India has faced a drastic fall in the donkey population, which brings to light a possible existence of illegal DHT, but its scale and modus operandi were not known. This Investigative Study is based on the hypothesis that an illegal DHT exists in India, shared Verma.
The study is a damning exposure, detailing how the DHT is going on illegally in India and illegal export of live donkeys, their hide, and meat is taking place across borders via easily accessible routes. To substantiate his claim, Verma has cited substantial anecdotal evidences on the video camera to conclude that DHT is taking place in the country undetected.
In India, donkey meat is not categorised as an “animal food” under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India’s (FSSAI) Food Safety and Standards, 2011, making its slaughter and consumption illegal.